Harry Potter and the Forgotten Memory
by ChocolateGirl15
Summary: Harry Potter thought that evil had ended with the fall of Lord Voldemort.  But a shocking discovery leads Harry, Ron, and Hermione on another dangerous adventure.  A new threat and a potential traitor may find the three friends in over their heads.


Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a happy holiday and an amazing new year! Thanks for reading my story! Just so you know this story takes place after the seventh book. And another thing, reviews make me very, very, very happy!

Harry Potter and the Forgotten Memory

Chapter 1: The Lost Phial

The sun shone on the busy platform as hundreds of families waved good bye to the retreating train. A flustered looking mother ran up to one of the cars and passed _A History of Magic_ to a fourth year girl. The girl, grinning and waving, leaned out of the window of the moving car and snatched it from her mother's outstretched hand. Farther up, two little boys were chasing the train, laughing as they fell farther and farther behind. As the train picked up speed and turned the corner of the station, many families began to head back toward the barrier and out into London.

Near the middle of the platform, one man stood staring after the receding train, his hand sill raised in farewell. His jet black hair was as untidy as ever and his bright green eyes were unusually bright. Harry Potter smiled as the train finally sped out of sight.

"They'll be alright," a quiet voice said from behind him.

"I know," said Harry, turning to smile at his wife Ginny.

Ginny was one of seven children and she is Molly and Arthur Weasley's only girl. She has flaming red hair and big, brown eyes. Her brother, Ron Weasley, and his wife Hermione are Harry's best friends.

"Harry! Over here!"

Harry turned around and saw Ron and Hermione walking toward him, grinning. Ron was smiling and Hermione had tears streaming down her face. Ron was Harry's first friend during their first year at Hogwarts. He is tall, and gangly with red hair and a lot of freckles. His wife Hermione has bushy brown hair and brown eyes. She ran up to Harry and flung her arms around his neck, sobbing.

Ron clapped Harry on the back, trying to pull Hermione off of him. "Can you believe it? Our kids are actually off to Hogwarts! Took them long enough," He muttered this last part in a whisper, eyeing Hermione warily.

Sure enough, Hermione heard him. She spun around and faced Ron angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I...you know -" Ron began uncertainly.

Hermione advanced toward him, her hands on her hips, completely forgetting about Harry and Ginny standing behind her. Harry choked back laughter as Ron's face paled. With that steely glint in her eyes, Hermione looked scarily like Mrs. Weasley.

Fortunately, Ginny saved Ron from Hermione's fit of anger. "Shouldn't we be getting back you guys? It's getting kind of late," Ginny said, an amused smile on her face.

"Yes we should!" Ron said, looking relieved. "Remember Hermione? We promised we would send Rose and Hugo a care package for when they arrived at Hogwarts."

"Yes ok." Hermione said, her eyes still narrowed at Ron. "But don't think I'm finished with you yet."

Ron nodded nervously and sent Ginny a thankful smile. "So are you two ready then?"

"Of course we are," said Ginny. She took Harry's hand and started walking toward the barrier. Ron and Hermione followed a few steps behind them.

Harry looked around at Platform 9 and ¾. Now the station was almost deserted, but a few families remained behind talking quietly with one another. They had almost reached the barrier to Muggle London when Harry heard a scream behind him.

He yanked his wand out of his pocket and spun around, his heart pounding. Hermione was standing a few feet behind him, clutching two square objects to her chest.

"Hermione what…?" Harry gasped, staring at Hermione with a confused look on his face.

"Rose and Hugo- they forgot their Charms textbooks!" Hermione said with a terrified look on her face. "Oooh Professor Flitwick will be so angry and on their first week too!"

Ron, however, had an entirely different reaction to the forgotten books. He had an annoyed look on his face that completely contrasted to Hermione's horrified one. "Really Hermione? You are the only one who would get this upset over a few missing school books!"

"Well I can't help it if you never put much thought in your school work Ron!" Hermione snapped angrily, the glint back in her eyes. "But I'm not going to let our kids fail their classes just because they are missing their books!"

"Ok! We'll just send it to them by owl then. " Ron said quickly. "Although I don't think Pig will be up for the journey-maybe I can ask Percy to borrow Hermes."

But Hermione quickly shot that idea down. "No way Ron! Sending the books by owl will take too long. I'll just Apparate and bring them to Rose and Hugo's dormitories so the books will be there when they arrive."

Ron sighed and shook his head. "You can't Hermione. You have that appointment with Kingsley Shacklebolt about passing that new S.P.E.W. law. Something about giving house elves the right to have their own clothing line."

Hermione's eyes went wide and she looked around wildly. "Oh no! I completely forgot! What time is it?"

"It's 4:30," answered Harry, looking at the huge clock mounted on the stone wall.

Hermione gave a cry and clutched her bag closer to her chest. "Really? The meeting is supposed to be starting now!" She looked flustered and stared at Ron. "Could you-?"

Ron laughed loudly and shook his head. "No way Hermione! I still stand by my suggestion of sending the books by owl post."

Hermione glared angrily at him and rounded on Harry. "Will you take the books to Rose and Hugo Harry? Please?"

Harry nodded and grinned at Hermione. "Of course I will." Ron heard this and rolled his eyes behind Hermione's back.

"Thank you so much Harry! I would do it myself but I've had this meeting scheduled for months and I really can't afford to reschedule it," Hermione said breathlessly.

Ron snorted. "Yeah because house elves absolutely abhor wearing their pillowcases and tea cozies all the time."

Hermione chose to ignore Ron's comment and instead passed the two textbooks to Harry. "You can just leave the two books in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone will probably still be at the feast."

Harry nodded and turned to Ginny. "I'll meet you back at home ok? I won't be too long."

Ginny smiled at Harry. "Of course. Don't worry about it. I'll just keep dinner warm."

Harry tucked the books into his coat pocket and turned to his friends. "Well see you later then."

Hermione nodded distractedly and checked her watch again. She sighed, said good bye to Harry and Ginny, kissed Ron quickly, and Disapparated in a flash.

Ron shook his head and smiled. "You will be coming to our dinner party tomorrow night right?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for anything," said Harry.

"Good. Everyone will be coming. Mum and Dad are definitely visiting. Mum's been cooking for the party for the past couple of days. Every time I go over to their house it smells like the Hogwarts's kitchens. Percy and Audrey are coming and I will make sure George and Angelina stop by. They live right over Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and that's about two minutes from my house. Although Bill and Fleur might not make it; I think Bill had a last minute meeting for Gringotts in Luxembourg and he won't be back until Saturday. " Ron said excitedly.

Harry nodded and waved good bye to Ron. He hugged Ginny and kissed her softly. Then he turned away and Disapparated.

Not a moment later, Harry appeared in the Hogwarts train stations. The station was lit by hundreds of golden torches and they seemed to make a path leading directly toward Hogwarts castle.

Suddenly, Harry was overcome by a great feeling of nostalgia. He hadn't realized that returning to Hogwarts would bring back so many memories. He quickly rubbed his eyes as tears threatened to overtake them. Harry shook his head and started walking up to the castle.

About 15 minutes later, Harry arrived out of breath at the foot of the front door. He hurried up the steps and pushed the big, oak doors open. Harry slipped in and closed them as silently as he could. Then, he turned and started walking across the entrance hall.

But loud talk and laughter coming from the Great Hall made Harry stop. He could smell the aroma of the feast drifting from the brightly lit room. Harry couldn't resist taking a peek inside. He stepped closer and peered through the crack of the doors.

The school was just as crowded as Harry remembered. He saw the four long house tables, each with their respective banner drifting overhead. The tables were covered in delicious looking food, painfully reminding Harry that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Naturally, Harry's eyes strayed to the Gryffindor house table. He passed on each of the faces, looking for some familiar ones. To his delight, he saw James talking animatedly to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost. A few seats down, he saw Albus Severus talking to Rose and Hugo. Rose had a book propped up against the gallon of pumpkin juice. It looked like she was reading a passage of the book aloud to both Hugo and Albus. Harry shook his head in disbelief, like mother like daughter.

Finally, Harry's eyes drifted to the teacher's table at the front of the Great Hall. He felt a pang of sadness when he saw Minerva McGonagall sitting in the Headmaster seat. After all this time, it still hurt Harry to think about Dumbledore being dead. Harry had always associated Hogwarts with Dumbledore. Then, Harry saw something that made him grin. Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, was sitting in his usual spot at the end of the table. Harry saw Hagrid beam and wave at James, who grinned and waved back. Hagrid was one of Harry's favorite teachers and friends at Hogwarts. Throughout Harry's time at Hogwarts, Hagrid was the one of the few people he could count on to always be there for him.

Finally, near the middle of staff table, Harry saw Neville Longbottom talking quietly to Professor Flitwick. This did not come as much of a surprise for Neville had sent Harry and Ginny an owl with a note saying that he had been appointed as the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. Owing to his unfortunate problem of forgetting to do things, Neville had sent the owl only two days ago. It had arrived yesterday while Harry and his family were sitting down to breakfast.

Soon, it dawned upon Harry that he had spent way too much time standing in the doorway of the Great Hall. He had told Ginny he wouldn't be very long and he knew she was probably waiting up for him. So, Harry took once last glance around the Great Hall, turned, and walked quickly up the entrance hall steps.

He traveled the familiar path up through the castle. He walked quickly up the moving staircase, jumped over the trick step, and in no time, arrived at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. While he was walking through the many corridors, Harry couldn't help but think about the amazing progress that Professor McGonagall, the other teachers, and the Ministry have made in rebuilding Hogwarts castle. After the Second Wizarding War, massive efforts had been taken to restore Hogwarts to its former glory. Ministry Wizards from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes worked around the clock for at least two months, trying to rebuild Hogwarts. Well, Harry was pleased to see, it looked nothing short of magnificent. The castle looked just as wonderful and magical as it did when Harry first arrived there when we was eleven years old.

Soon, Harry's feet carried him subconsciously to the Gryffindor portrait hole. The Fat Lady looked the same as she always did. But the Fat Lady didn't notice Harry right away, for she was entertaining many witches and wizards from neighboring portraits. With a jolt, Harry realized he didn't know the new password to enter Gryffindor Tower. Harry cleared his throat loudly and looked pointedly at the Fat Lady.

She didn't notice him and now Harry was starting to get a little impatient. "Um-excuse me!" Harry yelled.

The Fat Lady jumped startled and looked around wildly. She noticed Harry standing there and sniffed impatiently. "Yes what is it?"

"Uh, I was hoping you could tell me the new password into Gryffindor Tower. My friends' children forgot a couple of their school books and I was hoping I could leave them in their dormitory," said Harry, pulling out the two Charms books to show her.

The Fat Lady eyed him suspiciously. "What's your name?"

"Harry Potter," he answered.

Instantly, the Fat Lady's expression went from suspicion, to disbelief, and then to shock. Behind her, the people in her portrait began to whisper amongst themselves excitedly. The Fat Lady's eyes flicked up to his forehead to take in his lightening shaped scar. Her face turned a bright shade of red and she started to stutter uncontrollably.

"I'm so s-s-sorry Mr. Potter. I c-c-can't believe I didn't recognize you sooner! Of course I will let you in. The p-p-password is 'Caput Draconis,'" she stammered breathlessly. Her portrait hole swung open, revealing a spacious room lit with a crackling fire.

"It's alright," Harry said, waving her apologies away and stepped into Gryffindor Tower.

Harry made his way across the room, only pausing to sit in his favorite squashy arm chair by the fire. He climbed the steps and opened the door to the girl's dormitory. He immediately saw Rose's trunk and owl sitting at the foot of her bed. The brown tawny owl was a gift from Ron and Hermione for her eleventh birthday. Harry knew that Ron didn't want to have any more dealings with rats.

Harry crossed the circular dormitory and placed the book on her bed, quickly scrawling a note to Rose and sticking it to the cover of her school book. It read:

_Rose,_

_You forgot your Charms book at home and your mother made me deliver it to you. You know how uptight she is about her books. Have a good first week of school!_

_Love your godfather,_

_Harry_

Harry walked out of the room and shut the door. He then walked across the hall and entered Hugo's dormitory. This dormitory looked exactly the same except for the trunks and pets at the foot of each bed. Harry knew at once which bed was Hugo's. Hugo had inherited his father's adoration of the Chudley Cannons. There were moving photographs stuck all over his trunk, each one showing a different member of the team dressed in their bright orange Quidditch robes. Even after all these years, the moving photographs never failed to amaze Harry. Harry placed the book on Hugo's bed, scrawling the same note to him and sticking it to the cover of the textbook.

Harry exited the common room quickly, intending to leave Hogwarts right away. He could hear the students exiting the Great Hall, each house going its own way to their respective common room.

But something was nagging at the back of Harry's mind. He soon found himself outside of Professor McGonagall's office. It was as if Harry needed to see for himself whether Dumbledore's memory was truly gone from the castle. He approached the stone gargoyles cautiously, trying to think of the correct password.

"Er-Fizzing Whizbee?"

But the gargoyles made no response. But Harry wasn't to be deterred.

"Acid Pop?"

Once again, there was no response.

Harry sighed and tried again.

"Lemon drop?"

Immediately, the stone gargoyles sprang aside to reveal a moving staircase. Harry, thrilled at his success, took the stairs two at a time, nearly running into the oak door.

Harry quickly twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

Harry stepped into the Headmaster's office and shut the door softly behind him. To his surprise and great happiness, Harry found that office had barely changed at all. Evidently, McGonagall was intent on preserving as much of Dumbledore's memory as she could.

The circular office looked very similar to what it had been like nineteen years ago. The silver instruments were sitting in the corner, shining brightly. Hung up on the wall, the Sword of Gryffindor gleamed brilliantly in its case. The Sorting Hat, quiet and unresponsive, was sitting in its own case next to the sword.

Harry smiled, silently thanking McGonagall for keeping the office the way it used to be. But then, a flickering light caught his eye. Harry looked around and saw that it was coming from a giant cabinet. Overwhelmed with curiosity, Harry walked toward it and pushed the wooden door open. Immediately, Harry recognized what the object inside the cabinet.

It was the pensive. And right next to the silver bowl stood the glass case holding all of Dumbledore's memories. Of course Harry knew what the pensive did. He had used it quite a number of times when he was at Hogwarts. The pensive had shown Harry what a Horcrux was and it had also shown Snape's true intentions. Harry hadn't used the pensive since Snape had given Harry his own memories of him and Lily meeting for the first time. These memories had hit Harry hard and he had silently vowed that he would never go near the pensive again.

Harry turned around sharply, intending to close the pensive cabinet. But his shoulder struck the memory cabinet hard. This caused one of the silver memory phials to slide from its holder and hit the ground.

Harry spun around quickly and dropped to his hands and knees. He felt along the floor, searching for the phial. He saw a glint of silver from behind the memory cabinet and stretched out his arm, reaching for the phial.

But before he had reached the intended phial, Harry's hand brushed up against something that was lying underneath the cabinet. With his curiosity mounting, Harry grabbed the unknown object and the lost phial and straightened up.

Harry placed the dropped phial back its holder so he could examine the new object more closely. It looked like a very old memory phial. It was covered in dust and it had obviously been lying forgotten under the cabinet for a very long time. There also seemed to be something tied to it, something that looked suspiciously like a note.

Harry rubbed hard at the thick layer of dust, trying to make out the writing on the small scrap of paper.

After a few minutes of frantic cleaning, Harry was able to make out the faint, crooked writing.

It read: _Not intended for Harry Potter's eyes._

Harry frowned slightly. Who wouldn't want him to see whatever memory it contained? If it concerned him, so shouldn't he be able to see it? But maybe this memory and its contents were so shocking that the person who wrote the note was just trying to help him?

Harry hesitated only for a moment. In just a few seconds he had uncapped the stopper holding the phial closed and had turned back to the pensive.

He poured its silver contents into the basin, which had begun to shine with a flickering light. The addition of the memory had caused the substance in the basin to swirl.

Harry waited impatiently for the swirling to stop, trying to make out the rapidly rotating images.

All too soon, the swirling had stopped as quickly as it had started. The substance in the basin was unmoving and calm.

Harry took a deep breath and leaned forward into the pensive.


End file.
